Mar 6, 2018   SOURCE: BusinessWire

Sonitor Technologies Seeks Inter Partes Review of CenTrak’s Ultrasound Positioning Patent

Sonitor Technologies, the global leader in indoor, ultrasound-based positioning technologies, today has filed a petition for Inter Partes Review (IPR) with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) seeking review of claims 1-35 of CenTrak’s United States Patent No. 9,622,030.

“Sonitor introduced its first ultrasound-based RTLS system in 2006 and has been innovating in this space since 1997. Our growing patent portfolio and products are unique. We're filing this IPR as a proactive measure to make sure that the market recognizes our freedom to operate in it,” said Sonitor Technologies, Inc. President and CEO Anne Bugge. “We will face competitors in whatever forum or with whatever legal strategies that are required.”

The challenged claims recite the use of known synchronization techniques in infrared and ultrasonic real-time location systems. However, both infrared and ultrasonic real-time locations systems were known prior to the ’030 patent. Radio frequency synchronization techniques were also well-known and in use before the ’030 patent. Many of the ’030 claims are merely the application of Wi-Fi synchronization methods to a real-time location system. Sonitor asserts in its IPR that all claims of CenTrak’s patent are unpatentable over the prior art.

In August 2017, Sonitor won an earlier patent dispute with CenTrak when the U.S. District Court in Delaware ruled that CenTrak’s U.S. Patent No. 8,604,909 is invalid. CenTrak is appealing that ruling. CenTrak’s ’030 patent, which has been challenged in the newly filed IPR, arose out of the same family as the ‘909 patent involved in the Delaware litigation.

Sonitor is represented by Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

About Sonitor

Sonitor is a leading provider and innovator of accurate and reliable ultrasound-based Real Time Location Systems (RTLS) and Indoor Positioning Systems (IPS) linking the physical world with the Internet of Things (IoT) to provide real-time visibility and connected intelligence. As the first and only company to use proprietary ultrasound technology as the primary technology for indoor positioning, Sonitor’s Sense™ and Forkbeard™ platforms work seamlessly together to help users navigate indoor environments and automatically determine the real-time location of moveable equipment and people. With its open integration platform, Sonitor provides the flexibility to leverage best-in-class software application solutions covering use cases such as wayfinding, nurse call, patient flow, workflow and capacity management, hand hygiene, infection control and asset and inventory management.